Virtual agents and conversational IVR design

See also

Sources

1. 1
   Cisco states that access to the autonomous AI agent for voice calls is currently limited to specific customers and directs a reader who wants it to Cisco support.

   Use AI agents for customer interactions · introduction, note preceding the voice channel sections · Checked 2026-09-16
2. 2
   An Enable voice recording check box in the Virtual Agent V2 advanced settings allows recording of the conversation between the AI agent and the customer, and Cisco states that those recordings appear on the Sessions page within the AI Agent Studio application.

   Use AI agents for customer interactions · Configure AI agents in flow, Advanced Settings · Checked 2026-09-16
3. 3
   Cisco states that custom events, the mechanism by which a flow orchestrates fulfilment actions such as retrieving data from external systems or calling third-party APIs during an AI agent conversation, are currently supported for scripted and autonomous AI agents through the voice channel only.

   Use AI agents for customer interactions · Configure custom events · Checked 2026-09-16
4. 4
   On an escalated outcome the Virtual Agent V2 MetaData variable carries an escalation_type of custom or system and an escalation_trigger naming what caused it, where a custom escalation names the transfer action configured on the agent and a system escalation carries the trigger agent_transfer.

   Use AI agents for customer interactions · Activity Output Variables, VirtualAgentV2.MetaData Escalated Outcome examples · Checked 2026-09-16
5. 5
   The default input language and output voice configured on a Webex AI Agent are overridden from the flow by Set Variable activities placed before the Virtual Agent V2 activity that set Global_Language to a language code and Global_VoiceName to a voice name code, and Cisco warns that a voice not supported by the engine the AI agent uses sends the call down the activity's error path.

   Use AI agents for customer interactions · Configure AI agents in flow, global variables paragraph · Checked 2026-09-16
6. 6
   The Language drop-down on the Webex Connect AI Agent node is populated from the languages configured in the AI agent's own settings and is disabled for an agent configured with a single language.

   Use AI agents for customer interactions · Configure input and output variables in AI agent node, Language input · Checked 2026-09-16
7. 7
   The Webex Connect AI Agent node offers 2 methods, Process Message which sends a user message to the selected agent and returns its response, and Close session which ends an AI agent session, and Cisco states that a session inactive for a specified period is closed automatically to optimise resources without naming that period.

   Use AI agents for customer interactions · Configure input and output variables in AI agent node · Checked 2026-09-16
8. 8
   Cisco states that the service applies automated detection of patterns that may indicate payment card industry data in AI Agent recordings and limits its visibility in AI Agent Studio, and that the automated detection may not identify every instance, naming 3 scenarios: unprompted disclosure by the caller outside the expected call flow, speech-to-text transcription of card details that is incomplete inaccurate or in an unexpected format, and a call disconnected before backend systems can fully analyse the conversation.

   Use AI agents for customer interactions · Configure AI agents in flow, Advanced Settings, layered controls paragraph · Checked 2026-09-16
9. 9
   Cisco states that the Webex Connect and Webex Contact Center integration currently supports 6 digital channels for AI agents: WhatsApp, SMS, Email, Facebook Messenger, Apple Messages for Business and Live Chat.

   Use AI agents for customer interactions · digital channel prerequisites · Checked 2026-09-16
10. 10
    Cisco's published example of the default Webex Contact Center system transfer output carries a spoken message telling the caller they will be connected with a human representative and asked to hold while the transfer happens, delivered as the input to the agent_transfer action.

    Use AI agents for customer interactions · Activity Output Variables, For System Transfer example · Checked 2026-09-16
11. 11
    The Virtual Agent V2 activity has 3 output paths: Handled when the virtual agent execution completes, Escalated when the call must be escalated to a human agent, and Errored which the flow takes in any error scenario.

    Use AI agents for customer interactions · Configure AI agents in flow, Outcomes and Error Handling · Checked 2026-09-16
12. 12
    The Virtual Agent V2 activity returns 3 output variables to the flow: TranscriptURL pointing at the transcript of the conversation, MetaData carrying the JSON the agent returns as part of fulfilment custom event handling or a transfer action, and StateEventName carrying the name of the custom event received after the system triggers one.

    Use AI agents for customer interactions · Activity Output Variables · Checked 2026-09-16
13. 13
    Webex Contact Center exposes 2 kinds of AI agent to a voice flow through the same Virtual Agent V2 activity, selected by the Contact Center AI Config value: Webex AI Agent Scripted and Webex AI Agent Autonomous, each then offering its own list of published agents.

    Use AI agents for customer interactions · Configure AI agents in flow, Conversational Experience settings · Checked 2026-09-16

Documents

Cite this page

WarmTransfer. (2026, September 16). Virtual agents and conversational IVR design. WarmTransfer. https://warmtransfer.net/knowledge/ai-virtual-agents

@misc{warmtransfer-ai-virtual-agents,
  title  = {Virtual agents and conversational IVR design},
  author = {{WarmTransfer}},
  year   = {2026},
  url    = {https://warmtransfer.net/knowledge/ai-virtual-agents},
  note   = {Verified 2026-09-16}
}